Let’s please remember that Matt Harvey is 23 years old and has never thrown a pitch in anger to a major-league hitter. He’s never walked in from the bullpen and seen that there are 30,000 more people watching than he’s pitched in front before. He’s never seen how big-league hitters ignore that yet-to-be-refined curveball, or watched them coil their bats for that fastball — and not miss it.

He had nothing to do with losing the last 12 of 13. Even if he begins his career with one of its best stretches, he is incapable of making us win the next 12 of 13. He’s a young pitcher. He’s probably going to get beat around and exposed, with the best baseball players in the world providing a pitiless assessment of exactly where he is as a young pitcher. Or if it doesn’t happen the first couple of times through the league, video and word of mouth will do the job soon enough.

He’s here, and that’s good. He’s worked hard enough to get this shot and see where he stands, and that’s deserved. But he can’t save us. And his hard work is just beginning.

yes, in these days when even a dickey start ain’t what it used to be, something interesting tonite…even if these mets continue circling the drain.

i’d recommend young matt pitch high and inside and even plunk someone if need be but i don’t think there’s more than a couple of guys in the mets dugout who’d rush out onto the field to protect get their pitcher’s back.

maybe just valdespin and his upturned index finger, and turner with shaving cream pie in hand.

The problem is, Jason, your average Met fan will look at young Mr. Harvey and not think of any of the unfortunate names you mentioned. As when those guys came up, two names will flash in the fans’ minds: Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden. Which is manifestly unfair to Matt Harvey.

Thankfully its not a 30 degree April day at Wrigley. I have a aquaintance thats a MLB scout. I brought up the point that Harvey seems to short arm his delivery. The scout has told me his delivery is similar to Clemens.

Harvey is a great pitcher with a bright future and a ton of potential. But he should still be in the minors. He just isn’t quite MLB ready, and the Mets called him up to stop the skid in a move of desperation. Harvey is still not nearly as good against righties as he is against lefties, and would benefit from more time in Buffalo.http://www.sportsfanhood.com/2012/07/matt-harvey-to-make-mlb-debut-for-mets.html

No, it’s definitely not fair to compare Harvey to Seaver or Gooden. He’s not at that level of talent. A righthanded Niese, maybe a little better, is more like his ceiling. But we wouldn’t want him to flame out as quickly as Doc did, either, so taking his lumps at first might actually be good for him. Having guys like Dickey and Santana around, who also didn’t get off to blazing starts in their careers but then did all right, can only help him. And same with having Rob Johnson catch him.